Morning in Kirkwall
by Rosepixie
Summary: A series of very short stories about characters from Dragon Age 2 in the morning. There is very little plot, but it is safe to assume that the stories all take place on the same morning, so small connections may become evident. I have no current plans to expand any of these into longer stories, but may continue to add more of them over time.
1. Isabela

Isabela groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. The window was barely a slit and the building next door the only view, but somehow a glint of sun managed to fall directly into her face every morning. It wasn't early morning, of course, but Isabela had been up very late the night before with a sailor who claimed to have news of her artifact. She'd gotten him talking alright, but she'd had to drink a lot of ale with him to do it.

There was a pounding on her door and she groaned again. Couldn't she be left alone until a decent hour - like dusk, perhaps?

"'Bela," hollered Varric from the other side of the door, "send your sailor-boy on his way and hurry up. Hawke wants our help."

Isabela's eyes snapped open. Sailor-boy? She remembered drinking with him, but not tumbling with him. A glance around the room confirmed he wasn't there. She she climbed out of bed and started putting on her boots, she went back over the evening. Why wasn't he in her room? He had certainly been pretty enough.

And then she remembered - she had gone to his room, only to have him go limp on her before they could have any fun. She'd left him red-faced and frantically trying to get it up. She laughed at the memory.

Tying the final lace on her boot and throwing a scarf over her hair, she headed out to join Hawke on another job. She may not have had the fun she'd wanted last night, but at least she had a story that she knew would make Varric laugh. He had been unimpressed with her sailor and would enjoy the laugh at his expense.


	2. Anders

It was drafty in the little ramshackle house, but Anders tucked a blanket under his chin. He was trying to catch just a few more minutes of sleep before starting the day.

A pounding knock on the door roused him and chased away any such hopes. He shrugged off the blanket and pushed his way off the little cot. The knock sounded too desperate to be the templars, but one couldn't be too careful, so he grabbed his staff on the way to the door.

Anders pulled open the door to find a man, possibly a sailor, holding his arm tightly against his chest.

"Please, sirrah," the man pleaded, "help me!"

Anders led him into the room and sat him down in a chair.

"You don't look familiar," he observed as he gently investigated the arm. "How did you know this clinic was here?"

"I just put into port yesterday," the man replied, gritting his teeth. "My sister lives here in Lowtown. She said you healed her son's broken leg a few weeks ago."

Anders nodded and focused on convincing the man's bone to knit itself back together. It didn't take long to get the sailor all fixed up and send him on his way.

Alone again, Anders sat down to eat some bread. Hawke had been needing his help often lately, so he wanted to eat while he could. It was likely to be a long day.


	3. Aveline

Aveline twitched back the blankets on her bed and swung her legs over the edge to stand up. The sun was low in the sky this early in the morning, but it still filled her small room with plenty of light to see by.

Although one of the perks of being Captain of the Guard was a small private room, Aveline spent remarkably little time in that room. As soon as she was up, she headed out to the ladies' washroom. There were a few other women up already, but beyond brief, courteous nods, they all ignored each other.

Once her morning ablutions were complete, Aveline headed out to the small yard the guards used to drill. At this time of morning it was quiet. A few of her guards were scattered around the yard doing various physical exercises, but there was no socializing going on beyond more courteous nods.

Aveline always worked out in the morning in the same corner of the yard. As she settled into her familiar routine, her eyes drifted to a particular spot halfway across the yard. She kept her face neutral and never stopped moving, but her eyes shined eagerly as she watched the guard who was working out there.

His name was Donnic. She didn't know him well personally, but she watched him a great deal. He was a good soldier as well as handsome. She knew that she should find out if he was available and interested, but for now she was content to watch him from afar.

Aveline enjoyed the way Donnic's muscles bunched and flexed as he moved. Suddenly she was struck with the wish that he would do his workout without his shirt, as a few of the other men did. Feeling a blush creep up her face at that thought, she forced her eyes away from him and worked to regain the rhythm she had been in.

Perhaps Hawke could help her with this one. She'd send a message over to the manor after she was done with her morning workout. In the meantime, there was no reason for her not to enjoy watching Donnic some more!


	4. Merrill

Merrill snuggled deeper into the blankets on her small bed. One advantage these rooms had over the tents in the Dalish camp was the warmth. Wind couldn't blow through the walls and chill her.

The mirror sat across the room from where Merrill lay. She knew that she should stand up and work on it some more. Last night she had been up very late working on figuring out how to use the Arulin'Holm on the mirror. Although the Dalish had possessed and used the tool for generations, there was much knowledge concerning its use that had been lost. It stands to reason that if she understood the tool better, than she could understand the mirror better.

Merrill sighed. She was so tired. One aspect of blood magic that she still struggled with was how physically draining it tended to be. Isabella said it made sense - losing blood requires recovery. Her suggestions for how to achieve that recovery were confusing, though. Wouldn't exertion like that be more exhausting yet? Merrill certainly didn't feel up to anything remotely that vigorous this morning.

She wondered if perhaps some breakfast would help. Merrill climbed out of her bed and wandered out to the other room. Looking over the little food she had, she wondered if Hawke was going to need her today or if she could bury herself in her work again.

Munching absently on some dry bread, Merrill drifted back into the room where the mirror stood. She contemplated the surface. Perhaps the secret wasn't on the front. She'd mostly ignored the back, but maybe that was a mistake. And just like that, Merrill was lost in trying to solve the mystery of the mirror again.


	5. Bethany

Bethany sighed as she watched the sun rise over Kirkwall. She missed her family and her adventures outside of the Chantry. Living in the Chantry among the Circle mages wasn't as bad as she had feared it would be, but it was impossible to feel really easy there.

She looked around her room. It was nicer than she would have expected, being one of the fine guest chambers in what used to be a wealthy noble house. It was simply furnished (distractions such as decorative flourishes were frowned on heavily as temptations and distractions), but it was adequate and clean. Both of her roommates, fellow mages captured and brought here to live just as she had been, were still asleep. Bethany was free to enjoy the quiet morning in as much solitude as she was ever afforded anymore.

Gazing out over the city again, she wondered what her family was doing. There were diviner mages who could find out for her, but she knew better than to ask. Connections to the outside world were frowned upon heavily. They were considered ties that demons could use to tempt and manipulate unwary mages. She didn't believe that loving her family was a weakness, but if she was put in a situation where giving in to a demon would be the only way to save their lives, she couldn't absolutely swear that she wouldn't do it.

With a sigh, Bethany blew a kiss out over the city in the direction that she knew their new house was and turned away from her window to start the day.

She slipped quietly into her regulation robes and brushed out her black hair. There was no mirror to check it in (they were deemed too dangerous for the mages to have unsupervised access to), so she simply did the best she could. Normally, she would ask one of her roommates if she looked presentable, but they were both asleep and she was loathe to wake them up.

At least there was one good thing about living in the Chantry, she mused as she pulled on her soft boots. The food was much better than what she had eaten while living in Lowtown! With that in mind, Bethany headed out to see if breakfast was ready yet.


End file.
